Indicted former liberia Airport Authority(LAA) managing director Ellen Corkrum has been sued at a United States district court in Northern Georgia for false and fraudulent application for a paycheck protection loan launched in the U.S.
The program was initiated by the Trump administration in March 2020 for covid-19 Aid, Relief, and Economic security.
The Cares act to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans affected by the pandemic.
The complain was filed against Liberia’s former LAA boss by an FBI agent Jay Park; who is specialized investigating violations of federal laws, including financial instistution fraud, and money laundering.
In the complaint, FBI agent Park alledged that the former LAA managing director dubiously established ‘Vandelt’ with seven arms requested and applied for not less then US 8.5 million; of which atleast US 6.6 million dollars was disbursed to her.
The complaint also said Corkrum knowingly with an intent to defraud, exucute, and an attempt to defraud the financial instistution.
According to the charges filed in the US District Court for Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, Corkrum, used several aliases deceived authorities with criminal mischiefs.
From on or about April 27, 2020 through on or about June 17, 2020, in the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere, the Corkrum, aka Hunter Vanpelt a/k/a Hunter Lauren Vanpelt a/k/a Ellen Corkrum a/k/a Ellen Yabba Kwame Corkrum, knowingly executed and attempted to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud financial institutions, the deposits of which were then insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation(FDIC), and to obtain, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises moneys, funds, credits, assets, securities and other property owned by and under the custody and control of those financial institutions, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344.
Under the Title 18 violation, a person who obtain any of the moneys, funds, credits, assets, securities, or other property owned by, or under the custody or control of, a financial institution, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, could be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.
The United States Small Business Administration(SBA) was an executive branch agency of the United States government that provided support to entrepreneurs and small business. The mission of the SBA was to maintain and strengthen the nation’s economic recovery of communities and disasters.
As part of this effort, the SBA enabled and provided for loans through banks, credit unions, and other lenders. These loans had government guarantees.
The Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security(CARES) Act was a federal law enacted in or about March 2020 and was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
One source of relief that the CARES Act provided was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for payroll, mortgage interest, rent/lease, and utilities, through a program referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program(PPP). In April 2020, the Congress authorized up to $310 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allowed qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive PPP loans. Businesses must use PPP loan proceeds for payroll costs, interests on mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allowed the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be entirely forgiven if the business spent the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of time and used a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds for payroll expenses.
Source: Cable TV
